


A Dragon's Dream

by HotheadedRebel



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Dragons, Dreams, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Heartbreaking, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, M/M, Slow Burn, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:07:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22210762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotheadedRebel/pseuds/HotheadedRebel
Summary: Dreams were special. They were almost sacred. They alleviated all suffering and gave consolation. But Aymeric's dreams were anything but that… He had been suffering from hell since childhood, from a recurring nightmare that did not want to let go of him. Maybe it wasn't a dream? Maybe it was fate that got in touch with him? Maybe it was Halone trying to punish him for something? Maybe... just maybe...it was a curse? One, which would change his and Estiniens life forever.
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel & Estinien Wyrmblood, Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	A Dragon's Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome everyone :D  
> Just to make sure that we're on the same page… 
> 
> English is unfortunately not my mother tongue. And this is my very first English story. That's why I'm grateful for any criticism! Should someone be found, who would like to translate my German stories into English, I would be delighted to share my ideas with you <3
> 
> Also, I've never posted anything on Archive Of Our Own before. I hope the format for reading is okay, I struggled a bit with the editing and paragraphs xD
> 
> I'm very fond of this shipping, so expect a lot of input from me!
> 
> Please enjoy!

He knew it was a dream, before he even dared to open his eyes. And as he did… Aymeric feared this could be his final nightmare. The one, he was warned about a long, long time ago. 

The Knight took a deep breath and regretted it soon after. The air was so cold, it nearly turned his body into an Ice Sculpture. He shivered and twitched and as fast as he could he wrapped both arms around his torso, to keep himself warm and safe. It didn’t help. It only made it worse to be honest. Thousands of white Snowflakes clouded his sight the second after he opened his eyes for the first time.  
His first impression was that he was somewhere home. Somewhere in Coerthas… he stood in the snow, with naked feet, in the middle of nowhere. There was no other person to see, no other life to feel, no other soul to reach out. Just he and the never ending Snowstorm around him, which kept him apart from everyone else. 

“Why can’t you just let me go?!” 

Even in his own ears this words sounded hollow and weak. Like a child’s cry for warmth during a terrible and bittersweet dream. His usually strong behaviour and voice of righteousness were reduced to a whisper out of despair. He digged his nails deeper into his own flesh, but neither the pain nor the blood could warm him. Not even a little bit. It was terrifying and the upcoming fear paralysed him even more. 

“Why do you insist on punishing me for reasons I don’t even know!”

Aymeric got his silent answer. The following icy gust of wind was strong, strong enough to bend him to his knees as he fell into the snow. The cold crept into his body, into all of his bones, directly into his panicked heart, which was beating faster and faster… he couldn’t seem to breathe anymore. 

“Why… Why can’t you just let me rest… please…I can’t take this anymore…” 

Maybe it was his surrender or his quiet pleading. Or pity for his nearly death, because Aymeric’s body couldn’t handle that sort of contact with an overpowering entity. But the Snowstorm lost some of his force. Enough for the Elezen to be kept alive and in position to hear _her_ voice. 

_Someday…I will beg you for forgiveness…_

Aymeric tried again to open his eyes to see something. Anything. But there was nothing. Just a white massive wall of snow and ice and >her< voice in his head. So loud and full of power that it nearly tore his body and soul apart. He doubled over, groaned in pure agony. 

“S-Stop…Stop it…Now…!” 

_You can. You will. You must. There is no one else_

“I d-don’t even …know…”

_He’s close… So close to you…_

A painfully scream escaped him. He just coulnd’t help himself even more, was lost for words and any sort of action. He was out of control, fighting… trying… wanting…to pull his own heart from his chest, to flee from this unbearable torment. 

_Listen to his whisper. Dance in his shadows. Embrace his heart. And burn in his fire, Aymeric. Burn…then… you and everyone else will be free. Forever. I promise_

These words were burned into his memory and nothing could be done to let him forget them. Aymeric’s closed his sore eyes and allowed his mind to be swallowed up by the darkness, which embrace him with all his force. And in the distance he thought he heard _her_ one last time, before she finally strikes him down. 

_Burn and redeem him, Aymeric_

~

“…meric…Aymeric…! Fury and Hells, wake up!”

There was a slap. And a following, stinging pain in his left cheek. It was more than enough to wake the Lord Commander up. He opened his eyes in shock and stared up. But Aymeric didn't see the stone ceiling above him. Instead, it was Estinien that he saw first of all. The Dragoon leaned over the Elezen and fixed him with an almost uncomfortable, penetrating look. The visor prevented him from looking into those steel eyes, but the irritated rumble betrayed his displeasure and impatience.

“Estinien ... what ... why ...?”  
The Lord Commander tried to put his thoughts in order. But no matter how hard he tried, he never succeeded. His body trembled violently and all of his limbs ached from the unnatural cold.

_He’s close… so…so close…so warm…he’s on fire…redeem him…burn, Aymeric_

“You screamed” came the gruff reply from the Dragoon.  
Only now did Aymeric become aware of where he was. He lay in his bedchamber, in his manor which he called his home. If he had a home at all. The balcony wings were wide open and the curtains dance due to the incoming wind. Estinien must have forgotten to close them behind him, after he jumped on his balcony. It was so incredibly typical. And usually it would have made the Lord Commander laugh warmly.  
Instead, his body shook and he remembered two things. On the one hand his cheek pounded. The Dragoon must have slapped him in the face to tear him out of his nightmare. On the other hand, he could still hear the echo of _her_ voice. It was still there. Hidden. Somewhere deep in his soul.  
“For a brief moment I thought ...” Estinien started, but he stopped. He pressed his lips tightly together and quickly shook his head. In the meantime he had settled on the edge of the bed next to Aymeric.  
“Never mind. Forget it. I had to wake you up. And the best thing was ...”  
“... the best thing was to hit me?”  
Of course, the Dragoon did not put up with this comment and just shrugged his shoulders.

The knight raised one of his hands to touch his cheek, but the Dragoon was faster and grabbed his wrist.  
“Do not...!”  
“What in Halone's name...?!”  
Shortly afterwards the Elezen realized what triggered this reaction. His eyes were on his own fingers. They were blood red, traces of those helpless attempts to keep himself alive. He frantically raised the second hand and saw that it was stained as well. Again he started to tremble uncontrollably and he became aware of the slight, burning pain on his upper arms. There were also a few drops of blood on his skin.  
“I did what I had to do. And you should be grateful. Who knows what else you would have done to yourself. So be quiet and don't touch anything until I'm back.”  
Estiniens voice was harsh, but not unfriendly. Hard, not heartless. Aymeric knew this rough shell, with which his counterpart protected himself too well. Still, he was speechless this time, just sitting stiffly in his bed, waiting for the Dragoon to come back to him.  
Estinien was only a few steps away from him. At a bedside cabinet, he filled a large bowl with a water carafe and dipped a cloth in it. He came back to Aymeric with both things and sat back down on the edge of the bed.  
“Give me your hands.”

Aymeric slowly dipped both hands into the cool water. Actually, it should feel good. But the cold reminded him of the dream he was trying to suppress. A dream that has been chasing him for so many years. A dream that nobody had known about. Up to this point of time...

“If you go on like this...”

Before Aymeric knew it, Estiniens hands closed around his. The dragon had removed his armoured gloves just a few seconds ago. His slim, strong fingers closed around those of the Lord Commander. A hot shiver ran through Aymeric's body and a hoarse sigh escaped his lips. His chest rose and fell rapidly several times and he ran his tongue over his dry lower lip. Estiniens hands were warm, rough, and the longer they ran over his, the warmer he got. Finally his heart returned to its usual rhythm and his body began to obey him again. How much he missed being able to breathe.

_Close…so…close…_

His blue eyes went up from their hands to Estiniens face. How secretly he wished he could meet him face to face. But the Dragoon only allowed it in the rarest of cases. And this precious moment… this calm before the burning storm… it wasn't valuable enough to break Estiniens will and strength.  
“Thank you,” Aymeric whispered without wanting to destroy the peace that existed between them. He even closed his eyes for a few seconds and ran his thumb almost tenderly over one of Estiniens palms. His skin felt rough and testified to countless years of training with the lance.

The Dragoon said nothing. He remained silent and concentrated solely on washing off all the blood that was stuck on Aymeric's hands. But even when everything was washed away, Estinien didn’t want to let go of him.  
“Estinien ...”  
The pressure on his hands increased. It felt…nice. 

_Feel it…his fire. It burns so hot, deep inside of him…it’s…_

“Estinien... the blood...”  
Aymeric slowly leaned towards the Dragoon. One of his hands found the way to Estiniens cheek. With two wet fingers he ran them along until they found his beautiful lips. He could feel his hot breath on them and stroked lovingly over Estiniens slightly open mouth. He wanted to kiss him. Right here and now. He wanted to conquer these sinful lips, pull the helmet off his head and reveal the beauty that was hidden underneath. Aymeric knew it was there, knew that for more than ten years.  
“Estinien, please...”

_it’s…so wonderful…_

And maybe…maybe Estinien wanted that too. Not a second later, Aymeric was grabbed by the upper arms and pulled closer to a strange body.  
"Aymeric"  
"!"

_…and oh, so deadly…_

The water bowl slipped off the bed and fell to the floor, where it shattered. But neither of them reacted to it. Moaning hoarsely, Aymeric found himself pressed to Estiniens body. Their lips were only millimetres apart and the rumble that escaped the Dragoon sounded so beguiling, so sexy… it made Aymeric shiver again. It was an exciting combination of pain and pleasure that filled him. Estiniens hands had reached into those places that Aymeric had just matriculated a few minutes ago. The dull thump made him gasp. And the Dragoon did not miss this…  
As if this little misstep was enough, he jerked back and left the bed.  
“It shouldn't have gotten that far. I should have...”  
He sounded…worried, nearly afraid?  
“Estinien… you didn't do anything wrong. I shouldn't have...!”  
He growled so aggressively and dismissively that Aymeric fell silent. Without further explanation he took his gloves, put them on and hurried to the wide-open balcony.  
He had quickly grabbed the lance, which was leaning against the wall and placed on his back.  
“Close your damned windows and doors before you wake everyone up with your shouting! Or do something about those dreams. I won’t safe you again!”  
“Estinien, wait!” 

But the Dragoon didn't wait. He didn't respond to his words. With a jump he disappeared into the night and left Aymeric alone in his bedchamber. The shards of the water bowl were scattered on the floor next to his bed, but the Lord Commander did not look at the damage. Instead, he ran a hand over his own mouth. Not much was missing and he would have kissed him... Estinien. The Azur Dragoon. One of his oldest and dearest friends. His own lips were still trembling... he pressed his palm firmly against them.  
“Oh, Estinien… what has come over me…” 

As if there was anyone who knew the answer to this question. 

_Listen to his whisper. Dance in his shadows. Embrace his heart. And burn in his fire, Aymeric…you…were…listening…_


End file.
